Here on the Hawaii set of ABC’s hit drama Lost — that twisty mystery series about plane crash survivors fending for themselves on a South Pacific island inhabited by polar bears, a sadistic Frenchwoman, and unseen monsters — the cameras roll as Kate (Evangeline Lilly) and Jack (Matthew Fox) stare at a mound of dirt marked with a wooden cross.

”Why didn’t you just put him with the others when you burned the fuselage?” asks Kate.

”Because I needed to bury him,” explains Dr. Jack solemnly.

The two pull out some makeshift shovels and begin exhuming the dead guy, a U.S. marshal who was bringing fugitive Kate to justice before disaster struck. See, this marshal carried a wallet. And that wallet contained a key. And that key opens an impenetrable briefcase. And the contents of that case are important enough for them to endure this hellish process, which involves gagging, maggots, and a startling betrayal that the island gods want to keep hush-hush for now.